Under the Bed

by tyrannosaurianrex9

Rating: teen
Tags: Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Tragedy, Horror
Length: 6957

Twilight thought that something that's lurking under her bed was just a figment of her imagination even as a filly, but her childhood nightmare turns out to be real.

When Twilight is afraid of sleeping alone after a nightmare about something lurking under her bed when she's a filly, she asks her best friend, Pinkie Pie, for a sleepover. Pinkie tells Twilight it was not real... or is it?

Editor and Proofreader: sevenofeleven, LoneUnicornWriter (Unavailable?) and TheMysteryMuffin (Added).

This took place during the events of season 1.

Also, if you hit 'DISLIKE' on the story, please PM me and tell me why. A downvote doesn't help me improve my writing!

Published 2018-08-03 17:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-09-18 15:04:45 UTC

Prologue

Author's Note

Hi, it's me, tyrannosaurianrex9, and while my previous editor is busy editing the last story, I'm gonna write a horror story about my childhood monster. When I was younger, I get scared in the dark when I was at my bed so I open the door and cover my head with my blankets so that the monster won't get me. But today, I'm not afraid anymore. So this is why I'm writing this story because of it. If you're enjoying it, please leave a like, make positive comments and add this story to favorites and tracking.

Prologue

Twilight’s dad opens his daughter's bedroom door and a young Twilight Sparkle runs inside with her stuffed animal, Smarty-Pants, playfully before she jumps on her bed.

"Whoa! Slow down, you little rascal." Twilight's dad says.

Twilight bounces on top of her bedcovers that have purple and pink stripes. The springs inside creak. "Sorry, dad. I'm so excited for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow!" She exclaims.

"You wouldn't be at the celebration if you stay in bed."

Twilight frowns as she stops bouncing. "Oh."

"If you want to go there, you need to lay on your bed with your eyes closed."

"Trust me, dad. I can handle it." She hops under her blankets while laying her head against the pillow.

"Goodnight, sweet princess." He turns off the light before closing the door.

Princess Celestia, here I come! Twilight thinks.

She turns to the window staring at the Mare in the Moon before closing her eyes.

For a few minutes of sleeping, it was quiet and the moonlight’s shining a little through her window in her bedroom. She ignores the owls hooting and crickets singing from outside. Twilight is about to dream when suddenly...

CREAK!

Twilight opens her eyes. She sits up on her bed to look around.

Probably the floorboard itself is creaking a little since it's old. Twilight thinks. Dad needs to replace the flooring before my bed will fall through the floor.

Twilight shrugs like it was nothing before goes back to sleep.

Then Twilight opens her eyes again as she hears the same noise again. She sits up quickly and turns on the lamp.

"Who's there?" She whispers. "Mom? Dad? Was that you?"

She looks around her room for signs of movement until she sees that her closet was already opened slightly.

That’s odd. I don’t remember opening my closet door before I was asleep. Twilight thinks. Did I? Oh well, I guess I’m closing it.

Twilight crawls out of her bed, and carefully land onto the floorboard hooves first. She quietly trots over her closet, and shut it before trotting back to her bed.

She looks around to see no movement and no sound. After making sure, she turns off the lamp again and then goes back to sleep.

Again, she opens her eyes within a few seconds, and then she turns on the lamp. She hears another creaking noise. After a quick look around, she sees a Princess Celestia rocking horse rocking back and forth.

She wondered how the rocking pony was moving.

Twilight crawls out of her bed, quietly trots over her rocking horse, and grabs it to stop moving. Twilight then turns to her bed and then she trots back to it. She crawls back to her bed, and holds onto Smarty-Pants before looking around again to make sure that nothing is moving or making noises.

She turns off the lamp again, and then lays her head on the pillow while facing towards the window before closing her eyes.

In shock, Twilight reopens her eyes and quickly sits up as she hears a growling noise.

What was that? Twilight thinks.

She quickly turns on the lamp again and looks around. There's no sign of movement around her room, but she might have heard like an animal and it's coming from underneath her bed.

I swear I might’ve heard something from underneath me. Twilight turns to the marble from her dresser where the lamp is. Maybe I should check just to make sure if that’s just my imagination or not.

Twilight levitates a marble and drops it on the floor next to her bed. She then uses a little bit of magic to make the marble roll towards her bed until it disappears underneath it.

Within seconds, she hears tiny crunching noises and then the marble bouncing before it rolls out of the same side of her bed, only covered in saliva and bite marks, and she gasps in fear. She's not the only one in her room.

Oh no! There’s something under the bed. What is it? Is it friendly? Twilight’s thoughts are stampeding in her head. Should I check to see what’s underneath it? No. I’m not sure if it’s friendly or not, and if I take a peek if it’s not, I’ll get snatched very quickly. I think I should run to my mom and dad. No. I’ll get snatched too if I’m out of my bed. Maybe if I keep the lamp on and wait until morning.

Twilight lays her head on her pillow and clutches Smarty-Pants while taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

I hope that something nasty won’t get me if my lamp is on. Twilight thinks. Maybe it’ll go away in the morning.

She turns to the window again and then closes her eyes.

Suddenly, the light goes out, plunging the room into darkness. Twilight opens her eyes again and turns to the lamp realizing that she didn't turn it off.

What the hay! She thinks. Why did the light go out?

Fear raked its claws down her back as darkness fills her room. "No, no, no,"

With the lights go out and she can’t escape from her bedroom, Twilight hides underneath the covers hoping for something eerie to go away. Twilight whimpers in fear while holding onto her stuffed animal.

She didn't hear something outside her covers or feel something crawling above the covers, but she's too scared to take a peek whether or not is something out there waiting.

But in the moonlight outside her covers, a shadow of a large hand, with a palm as big as her head and four elongated fingers, slowly moves from in front of her bed to her face.

Twilight screams.

Twilight bursts in awake from her dream. She breathes in and out as the morning sun shines from the window of her bedroom in a library in Ponyville.

What a horrible nightmare.

She jumps off her bed and as she lands on the floor, she hears a creak. She looks down to see her hooves that landed on the floorboards. That noise was an unpleasant reminder of the nightmare she just had.

Twilight glances at the bottom of her bed only to think of the same dream monster underneath it. She slowly looks over towards the bottom of her bed and then peeks underneath it while scanning for some movement.

The bedroom door slams open and Twilight jumps up to the ceiling.

"Sorry, Twilight. I didn't know you're awake." Spike is at the bedroom door.

Twilight sighs. "It's a good thing you're here with me."

Spike scratches his head. "Well, I'm about to tell you that Rarity and I will be gone for two days at the Rambling Rocky Ridge to mine some gems. You wanna come?"

Twilight looks at the bottom of her bed. She's about to go with Spike so that she doesn't have to worry about, but she has some studying to do. "No thanks. I'm staying here while you were gone with Rarity."

Spike looks worried. "What's wrong? Look like you saw a ghost."

"Just a nightmare."

"O...kay. You think you can handle on your own?"

"I'll be fine."

"Great! I'll see you in two days." Spike waves as he leaves her bedroom.

"Bye, Spike!" Twilight waves back.

While Spike is gone, Twilight trots down the stairs from her bedroom to the second floor of the library. Twilight's still thinking about the same dream she had and she wonders if the creature from under the bed was just a product of her imagination even as a filly, but she's unsure.

Twilight trots out of her room to eat breakfast.

Chapter 1

Twilight trots down the wooden stairs, and she makes her way into the kitchen...

"Hi, Twilight!"

Twilight leaps and all the hairs in her mane and tail stood up when her best friend Pinkie Pie shows up out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" Pinkie asks in a silly manner.

Twilight scolds at her friend. "Yes! Yes, you did!" She takes a deep breath. "What're you doing here?"

Pinkie has her sleeping bags and a suitcase in her cart. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are gone for two days so I was going to ask you for a sleepover. Can I?"

"No thanks."

Pinkie frowns.

"I have studying to do," Twilight walks to the fridge.

"I made pancakes for you."

Twilight looks at the kitchen table only to see a plate with two stacks of pancakes and a glass of orange juice on it. "Oh, thanks." She trots to the table and she sits on a chair.

"Now can I stay the night with you?"

"Look, making me breakfast isn't gonna work at all." Twilight levitates a fork and she picks up the pancake slice. "And besides, Spike's been gone for two days with Rarity." Twilight takes a bite out of a slice.

"Well, at least you're not scared of sleeping alone. Are you?"

Twilight stops the slice of pancake just before reaching her tongue, her eyes widen, and her mouth opens slowly as Pinkie mentions about her dream last night. "Scared? Nah, I'm not scared of sleeping alone." Twilight quickly takes in and swallows her slice, but she can’t get past the uneasy thoughts of her nightmare to savor her friend’s pie.

Pinkie sits right next to Twilight. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Just had a nightmare."

"About what?"

I knew I shouldn't have told her that. "I don't wanna talk about it." She takes a bite on another slice.

"Come on, Twi. We do tell secrets, can we?"

Twilight drops her fork in anger. "I said I don't wanna... TALK ABOUT IT!" Her shouting causes Pinkie to fall off the chair.

Pinkie stands up glaring at Twilight. "Fine! If you don't wanna tell me, then we won't be best friends!" Pinkie turns away crossing her forehooves as her ears slump.

Twilight sighs. "Okay, I'll tell you."

Pinkie’s mane puffs up as she turns to Twilight with a joyous expression.

"It's me when I was a filly. When I was on my bed, there's something scary underneath my bed."

Pinkie laughs.

"What?" Twilight shrugs.

"You're scared of the boogeyman?"

"No, I'm not! It's just a bad dream. And what the hay's a 'boogeyman'?"

Pinkie quickly pulls out her flashlight from her suitcase, moves up within inches of Twilight's face, turns it on before she flashes under her scary face. "It's a night-dwelling creature that could eat you while you're sleeping..." She swiftly pulls away while turning off her flashlight with a warm smile. "...Only if you're naughty."

Twilight sighs in relief. At least I didn't do anything wrong.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing."

"Is it because you're scared of it?"

"No, no, I'm... just making sure that I'm not as bad as Nightmare Moon."

"Oh, Twilight. You know the boogeyman's not real. It was just a figment of an imagination." Pinkie walks to the door with her suitcase and sleeping bag. "In case you're scared of sleeping alone, call me. You'll only have forty-eight hours to ask me for a sleepover."

"I'll be fine, Pinkie."

Pinkie opens the door. "Later, Twi." She slams the door behind her.

At least my nightmares are not real.

The door opens again. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay the night with you?" Pinkie asks.

"I'm sure, Pinkie."

"It's your choice." She disappears outside as she slams the door behind her.

After breakfast, Twilight's in the library on her desk studying Friendship problems.

For a few minutes, Twilight takes a break. She can't stop thinking about the same creature from her nightmares.

What could that creature be? I swear Pinkie Pie knows what it is, but I might have forgotten. She looks at the bookshelf. I guess I'll find something.

Twilight levitates a dozen books and she scans one of them that's related to the same dream creature. "No. No. No. No. No." She kept on scanning for books but didn't find anything as she continues to search. "Oh, I wish Spike was here."

Then, Twilight finds something. It was a non-fiction book that was titled ‘Ponyville Urban Legends’ written by Edgar Hoof.

"Urban Legends, huh?" Twilight says as she drops the books except for the one she found. "I guess I'll take a look."

She trots to her desk, places the book on it, and she sits on her chair before opening the book. "Let's see..." She flips several pages. "Banshee... Bigfoot... Black-eyed Children... Boogey-" Twilight finds something. "A-ha! Here it is. That's funny. How come a remember the name of what Pinkie told me?" She shrugs. "I don't care." Twilight reads it.

Bogeyman is a common allusion to a mythical creature in many cultures used by adults to frighten children into good behavior.

Did I do something wrong even I was a filly? I didn't do anything wrong. She sighs. "I hope Pinkie's right." She closes the book.

That afternoon, Twilight trots out of her library towards the grocery store to get lunch as she barely runs out of food. Thoughts about the boogeyman still crowd her mind as she remembers what Pinkie called that creature in her dreams.

When Twilight made it to the grocery store to pick up some food, she comes across a newspaper box. She reads the newspaper article with pictures of two fillies.

Two fillies have reported missing

Interesting. She thinks.

Twilight pulls out a bit and inserts it into the coin slot before she levitates the newspaper out of the newspaper box.

Twilight reads the rest of the article. That morning, the family noticed that two of their children were missing, with no trace. The parents told reporters the last time they saw their children they were sound asleep in their beds.

"Hey, Twilight."

Twilight heart leaps. She quickly turns only to see Pinkie... again. "Oh, you scared me. Hi, Pinkie."

"How's your studying?"

"Great. I'd learned about friendship and magic and stuff."

Pinkie glances at the newspaper Twilight bought. "'Two fillies reported missing'? Gee that's terrible."

"Yeah. They've somehow disappeared without a trace."

"I hope they were in a secret party and then come back home."

Twilight laughs and then smiles sheepishly. "Yeah."

"I'll go visit the fillies’ parents to help look for them. See you later, Twilight." Pinkie trots away. "In case you're scared of sleeping alone, ask me for a sleepover."

"I'm not scared of sleeping alone, Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yells out.

"You better be if you see the boogeyman."

Twilight’s whole body trembles slightly as she gulps.

Her thoughts trail off from all that is around her. She feels what has become her nightmare, the boogeyman, slowly pulling her down into a dark pond of her own dreadful fear, failing to hear her joyous friend calling back while she trotting away. "Just kidding!"

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3

Outside, Pinkie is happily bouncing her way towards Twilight’s library while waving to other ponies and wishing them a pleasant morning. She then arrives at Twilight’s library and knocks loudly on the red wooden door.

"Hey, Twilight?” Pinkie calls, in her usual bubbly tone. “Are you awake?"

There was no response. Pinkie decides to knock again.

"Twilight?"

Concerned, Pinkie attempts to open the door, but discovers that it's locked. In protest, Pinkie stamped her hoof on the ground and huffed in frustration.

"Now what?"

She looks at the nearest window and trots over it. Pinkie discovers that it’s unlocked and opens it wide enough to squeeze through it.

Inside, the library was dark. Pinkie finds a light switch and flips it, illuminating the room.

"Twilight?” She calls again. “Are you here?"

Suddenly, Pinkie hears someone sobbing from upstairs. She trots up the staircase and then stopped, only to discover that the sobbing was coming from Twilight's bedroom. Pinkie gasps quietly, as she recognizes the sound of crying and who it belonged to. Pushing the door to the side, Pinkie went into the room and found Twilight crying on her bed.

"Twilight? Are you okay?" Pinkie whispers, turning on the light switch.

Pinkie found the pillow on the floor next to the dresser and most of the books had fallen from the bookshelves and onto the floor. She hears Twilight sobbing from under the bed covers.

Twilight’s sobbing voice quavers as she cries out. "Just go away.”

Pinkie trots over Twilight's bed. "Twilight, what's wrong?"

Twilight's head emerges out of the blankets with tears flowing out of her eyes. "Oh, hi, Pinkie."

"Let me guess. Another nightmare?"

"YES!" Twilight slams her face against the mattress crying.

"Soooo, are you scared of sleeping alone for now?"

Twilight raises her face to Pinkie. "Mm-hmm." She nods.

"Aaaand do you want me to spend the night with you?"

Twilight hugs Pinkie. "YES! YES, YOU CAN!"

"Don't worry. I won't leave you while you're sleeping."

"Thank you."

Then Pinkie had an idea. "I know; I'll go downstairs and make you breakfast."

Twilight sniffs, rubbing her hoof across her cheeks and wiping away the tears. "Okay."

Later in the kitchen, Twilight's sitting on the table staring at her plate while Pinkie's making pancakes.

"So what happened?" Pinkie asks while flipping a pancake in the air.

Twilight pauses. "I don't know how to tell you my dream. All I know is that I was grabbed by a bunch of hands, saw two fillies who I recognized in the newspaper, got sucked in a pile of disembodied ponies and then get eaten alive by something big... and scary."

Pinkie gasps, perhaps rather more excited than worried. She turns around and waves her hooves in the air. "The boogeyman?!"

Twilight nods. "Mm-hmm."

"What does it look like?" Pinkie looks back at the pan and pours pancake mix into it, before tilting the pan so that the mixture reached its edges.

"I don't know,” Twilight replies, placing a hoof on her chin. “All I saw were long black arms and sharp teeth."

Pinkie continues to cook the pancake mixture and then stopped for a moment to look back at Twilight. "That's funny. I thought it would be Nightmare Moon."

"We reformed her. Remember?"

Pinkie’s eyes widen in realization. "Oh yeah! But, couldn’t Princess Luna save you from that type of nightmare?"

"I don't know, Pinkie,” Twilight replies. “I better ask Celestia about my nightmares."

"Don't worry. I'll send a note to her." Pinkie flips the pancake over again.

"But Spike's not here."

"Oh. I guess we'll go to Canterlot and ask her."

Twilight nods in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea."

Pinkie goes over to the table and puts the pancake on Twilight's plate. "But you know, you could tell her about the boogeyman."

"I thought you said it was just a filly’s tale?"

Pinkie trots back to the stove. "I meant 'your dream'." She especially visualized ‘your dream’ by tilting her hooves in the air.

"Oh!" Twilight says in relief.

Pinkie dumps more pancake mix in the pan. "And besides, I was scared of sleeping alone in the dark when I was a filly."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So I asked my older sister, Maud, to sleep with me, and she did." She gives a cute grin.

Twilight laughs nervously.

"So who do you sleep with when you're scared of sleeping alone?" Pinkie asks Twilight, who blushes awkwardly.

"My older brother, Shining Armour.”

Pinkie quickly turns her head. This was the first time she was told this. "You have a sibling?"

Twilight nods.

"I didn't know that." She flips the pancake with her spatula.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you."

"That's okay."

"I also had Smarty-Pants with me."

"You know, Twilight, she's just a stuffed animal."

Twilight blushes again. "Yeah, I know. But she’s always been my favorite toy.”

Pinkie puts her pancake on her plate and then grabs it with her mouth. She trots over the table and sits right across Twilight before placing the plate down.

Pinkie looks at Twilight who is hardly eating her breakfast. "Uh, Twilight? You should stop thinking about the same creature in your dream. He's not real."

Twilight levitates her fork. "Yeah, I know."

Before Twilight could eat her pancake, Pinkie swiftly runs over the pantry, grabs the syrup and runs back to the table, handing it over to Twilight.

"Oh, thanks, Pinkie." Twilight levitates the syrup and pours it over her pancake. "I'm sorry. I just can't... stop thinking about that… thing." Twilight levitates the syrup to Pinkie, who clasps it between her two hooves.

"You should talk to a psychiatrist." Pinkie suggested while pouring the syrup.

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I thought we could ask Celestia about my dreams."

Pinkie places the syrup on the table. "Yeah, and that."

Twilight decided to change the subject. "So how are the files' parents?"

"Who? Oh, yeah! The police are looking for them. They said they couldn't find anything."

Twilight sighs, slamming her face down into the syrup-coated pancake.

Pinkie trots over and lifts Twilight's head, whose face covered in syrup. "Twilight, your pancake is for eating, not for sleeping."

Twilight sits up straight as Pinkie let go of her. "I'm sorry. I was just worried that-"

"Hey, remember I told you: 'the boogeyman isn't real'."

"'The boogeyman isn't real'," Twilight says the same way Pinkie says. "I know that, Pinkie! I just can't help myself!" Twilight takes a bite on a pancake slice by using a fork. "Is it me, or does that pancake taste funny?"

Pinkie's eyes are half closed. "You landed your face on it. And besides, you got syrup all over your face."

Twilight scrapes her cheeks with her hoof and glances at it, which she rubbed only to discover more maple syrup all over her face. "Oh dear! I'll go and wash it off."

Leaving Pinkie at the table, Twilight trots to the bathroom and then she steps inside before shutting the door behind her. Twilight turns on the sink, pump her liquid hoof-soap, and then leaned down into the sink to scrub her face to clean the syrup off.

"It's coming for you!"

Twilight hears a demotic voice that almost sounds like her voice.

Twilight looks at her reflection from the mirror... the reflection of herself wears a surgical mask. Twilight checks her cheeks only to feels she's not wearing a surgical mask, unlike her reflection who is moving the same way Twilight is.

"It's coming for you, Twilight!" Her reflection says.

"W-who are you?"

The reflection didn’t answer.

"Answer me! Who are you?"

Still no reply.

Twilight, trying to believe that she was in control, carefully removes 'her' 'surgical mask' with her hoof. Her reflection does the same.

But then her reflection's surgical mask falls out of her mouth, revealing a lipless slitted mouth with sharp teeth. Twilight screams and her reflection screeches showing a pharyngeal jaw with rows of teeth unlike her primary jaw with one row and her eyes turn black.

Twilight runs out of the bathroom and through the hallway until she crashes into Pinkie, making them both fall onto the floor.

"What's your problem?!" Pinkie asks in frustration.

"I- I saw the reflection of me... and... it had a lipless slitted mouth with sharp teeth, and it has a mouth inside another mouth." Twilight answers, gasping frantically.

They stand up.

"Did you say 'Bloody Mary' in front of the mirror?" Pinkie asks.

"No, I haven't!" Twilight replied angrily, replacing her frightened expression with a scowl.

Pinkie sighs, trying to think of a suitable response to her friend’s situation. "You should talk to Celestia. I think you're having a lot of problems."

Twilight nods back. "You're right. I could’ve been... hallucinating."

Pinkie puts a hoof round Twilight’s neck and smiles, which made Twilight smile back. "Why don’t we finish our breakfast?"

Twilight nods, still feeling extremely shaken. "Okay."

Author's Note

I fired my original editor of the story as I have two editors including TheMysteryMuffin I hired.

Didn't Twilight mention her brother before season 2 finale? Well, the bright side is the rest of her friends didn't mention her brother until in that episode.

Also, the Twilight's reflection mirror wearing a surgical mask and has a lipless slitted mouth is referenced from a Slitt-Mouthed Woman from the Japanese urban legends. I added that because that always freaks me out. If you have heard of her, let me know in the comments below, and :twilightoops:do not show me the picture of her!

I am NOT gonna look at her face the same way again!

Chapter 4

Author's Note

Sorry I took so long. I was having a hard time writing this chapter, and my editors' are having a fun time or whatever they're doing.

Update: My editor isn't here since last Wednesday so I'll set this story on Hiatus until he's back online. Stay tune.

Chapter 4

That afternoon, Twilight and Pinkie trot out of the library towards the train station.

Two earth ponies trot over to them. The countenance of them both are sorrowful.

"Hey, guys. Did you find your children?" Pinkie asks.

Twilight's confused at first, but she then realizes those are the fillies' parents.

"No. My children are gone," The mother replies. "You know that, right?"

"Don't worry. I'll find them, right after Twilight and I go to Canterlot," Pinkie says.

"Well, I'm afraid you can't because the train broke down!" The father says.

"Oh. So when will the train be fixed?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a week or so."

"Okay. I'll take her to see a psychiatrist."

"The medical place is closed for today."

"Oh,” Pinkie replies. “We’ll take her tomorrow.”

The father looks down at his wife, who is too devastated to talk any further. She then looks up and says. "See you later, Pinkie,"

The parents trot off.

"Come on, Twilight. We're going to a fast food restaurant." Pinkie ff towards the fast food place.

Twilight, however, didn't follow her. So the fillies are missing, huh? Well, Pinkie said that the boogeyman isn't real... or what if it is real? I mean, I didn't say it was real, but I'm not too sure when the fillies are missing. If Pinkie helped their parents find their children...

Pinkie, who is ten feet away from Twilight, turns to the lavender unicorn. "Hey, Twilight, are you coming?"

Twilight turns back towards the fillies' parents. Maybe I could help them. She turns back to Pinkie. "Wait here."

Twilight gallops over to the fillies parents. "Hey, uh, excuse me?"

"Can I help you?" The mother asks.

"Hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a friend of Pinkie Pie." Twilight says. "I've heard that she's helping you find your children, and I was wondering. Can I help?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Thanks."

The parents trot away.

Pinkie trots over to Twilight. "What did you ask?"

"Pinkie, I know that the boogeyman isn't real, but I was asking them to help find their children because I need to make sure you're right. And I just wanna make sure if the fillies are okay."

"Really? You think you can handle it?"

"Um... I think so."

"Okay. We'll go visit their house after lunch, okay?"

"Okay."

At a fast food place, Pinkie and Twilight are at the table enjoying their hay-burgers. Pinkie's eating her meal faster than Twilight.

"Mmm! These hay-burgers are good!" Pinkie says with food in her mouth, and she swallows it. "So why do you want to help me find the fillies?"

"I just wanna make sure if they're okay."

"You're still thinking about-"

"I know! You told me 'the boogeyman is not real'. I know, Pinkie! But in my dreams, when I saw them, it feels like they were abducted by it."

"Twilight, they're probably at a secret party or something."

"But how did they disappeared without their parents noticing?" Twilight sighs. "I think something else is going on."

"Probably because of your..." Pinkie rotates her eyes like crazy. "...crazy hallucinations that scare your brain."

"Well, it's not just hallucinations. The dreams I had told me something. They're a lot of dead bodies of ponies, and..." Twilight moans. "I don't know what else I'm telling."

"Dead bodies? That's a lot of naughty ponies."

"Okay, I have no idea what I did wrong. Did I do anything wrong?"

Pinkie rubs her chin. "I don't know. Sometimes everypony makes mistakes, and you made mistakes in the past sometimes."

"And did I misbehave every time?"

"No, silly. You're smart, kind, funny, and you're Celestia's favorite student."

Twilight glances at a grey pegasus mare, with blonde mane and googly eyes, watching them from the window behind Pinkie. "Who's that?"

Pinkie turns to the grey pegasus as she trots away. "Oh, that's Derpy. She's Doctor Whooves' personal assistant."

"And why is she watching us?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna ask her." Pinkie stands up, and she trots away.

Twilight levitates a hay-burger and takes a bite. As Twilight's chewing, she glances at her meal...

The hay on the burger is now guts and intestines. No! This is all in my head! Must... resist it! She tries her best to swallow her meal as tears flow out of her eyes.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" The waiter mare right next to Twilight asks.

Twilight glances at her meal that is now a normal hay-burger. "Y-Yeah I'm fine." The waiter trots away.

Twilight places the burger on her plate and she trots to the bathroom.

Twilight emerges into the bathroom door, and she turns to the sink where the mirror is, but before Twilight could use the sink, she shuts her eyes tightly to try not to look at her reflection.

Twilight slowly approaches the sink with her eyes closed while raises her right hoof towards the direction she's going to make sure she's going the right way. Her hoof touches something solid. Twilight opens and closes her eyes and catches a glimpse of a sink in front of her.

Twilight opens her eyes and she turns on the sink without glancing at her reflection of the mirror. She uses her hooves to rub her eyes with water and then scrubs her face. Just after Twilight scrubs her eyes, she sees a tiny red root growing out from the drain. It wasn't growing like any other plant it's growing faster. Then more and more red roots grow out of the drain, and then they spread filling up the sink and overflowing its edges.

Twilight backs away from the sink as the roots kept spreading and spreading from the sink to all over the bathroom walls, ceiling, and floors. As the roots spread all around the bathroom before sealing the door, Twilight closes her eyes tightly.

This is not real. This is just my imagination.

Suddenly, something coils around Twilight's neck, and then pulls towards the sink causing her to open her eyes. The roots are alive and are pulling Twilight towards the sink. As the roots force Twilight against the sink, they coil around her legs and torso to stick to the sink.

Twilight closes her eyes again and struggles to move. This is not real! Pinkie says it's just my imagination.

She feels something wraps around the back of her head and then pulls her head down. Then something forcing her eyes to open. The roots are pulling Twilight's head forcing her face towards the sink. Twilight struggles to break free, but the roots are too strong.

"Don't be afraid. I just want you to be my food." The voice of a little girl comes from the drain.

"What do you want for me?" Twilight cries softly.

"I just wanted you to suffer and be my prey."

"I didn't do anything bad. Please tell me why are you do-"

Suddenly, a geyser of blood shoots out of the drain and then spews all over Twilight's face causing her to throw back from the sink. The roots all over the bathroom are now covered in blood, and Twilight was also soaked in blood as she sobs.

The door flung open and a stallion steps inside. "Uh, ma'am."

Twilight glances at the stallion. She notices that he's ignoring the blood all over the place.

"This is the Stallion's bathroom."

Twilight didn't say anything as she gets up and rushes on right passed him. As Twilight trots out of the restroom still covered in blood leaving bloody hoof prints, she notices that everypony's ignoring her even when they went right past her. Everypony but Twilight didn't even see the blood all over Twilight, even the blood-stained hoofprints.

Pinkie trots over Twilight. "Hey, Twilight. Derpy said she was hungry, but didn't have enough money."

Twilight's unable to respond. Her eyes darting everywhere from her blood-soaked fur to the bloody trail she left from the bathroom to where she is.

Pinkie looks uncertain. "Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight shakes her head no, but she can barely speak. "D-do you see blo..."

"Sorry. I didn't catch that."

Twilight tries to say it out loud. "Do you see blood?"

"Are you bleeding?"

"No. Do you see blood all over me?"

"No. I haven't. Did you have scary imaginations again?"

"I tried and I tried. But it won't stop."

"Here's a thing. I'll tell the parents you're not gonna help me find the fillies since you can't stop thinking about the boogeyman, okay?"

"B-But I have to help you find them."

"I'm sorry, Twilight. You're too scared."

Twilight sighs. "You're right. But you need to take care of me."

"Don't worry, Twilight. I won't leave you alone."

Twilight hugs Pinkie coating parts of her fur in blood only she was, unfortunately, able to see. "Thank you."

Chapter 5

At the library at dusk, Twilight sits on the sofa eating ice cream from a carton. She was suffering with hallucinations and uncontrollable imaginations. Pinkie sits on the other side of the sofa eating ice cream from a bowl.

"Pinkie, why can't I stop imagining things?" Twilight mutters.

"Probably because you can't stop thinking about that same creature," Pinkie says.

"I tried, I tried not to think about it, but the illusions won't get out of my head." Twilight scoops the orange-flavored ice cream and eats it. Oh, Celestia! That ice cream is so good.

"Yeah, you should get a psychiatrist." Pinkie takes a bite out of an ice cream from a spoon. "There is something wrong with your head."

"Do you have nightmares, Pinkie?"

"Yeah I do, but I'm not hallucinating unlike you. Do you have psychosis?"

"What's psychosis?"

"It's a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality."

"What are the symptoms?"

"I don't know. Delusions, hallucinations, talking incoherently, and agitation."

"I don't have psychosis, I have Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism."

"Really? How did you know?"

"My mom told me about my autism when I was a filly."

"Well, that explains how you were as frightened as Fluttershy."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because after your nightmares, you seem to be very scared. Autistic ponies are very sensitive."

"Does Fluttershy have autism?"

"No, she has generalized anxiety disorder." Pinkie answers. "I have bipolar disorder."

"I see." Twilight scoops the ice cream and eats it.

Pinkie looks dumbfounded. "Uh, you might get sick if you eat too much ice cream."

"Are you kidding? I love orange flavored!"

"Suit yourself." Pinkie trots away. "I'll go make dinner."

"I don't need dinner when I have ice cream."

Pinkie stretches over, takes the ice cream carton away from her, and continues making her way to the kitchen. "We're saving that for dessert, silly."

"Aww!" Twilight complains.

As Pinkie went to the kitchen, Twilight levitates a book from a nightstand closeby, opens it and she reads it. Suddenly, the words blur, vanishing from the pages. All but the exceptions of the words 'help' and 'me'. Both words travel to the middle of the page becoming bigger and more visible. Twilight rubs her eyes, but then she sees the unblurred words 'help' and 'us'. The words expand across the page, making what she saw very evident.

Stop it! Twilight rubs her eyes again trying not to imagine things.

Suddenly, the unblurred words made a face of some creature that looks nothing like a pony while the words around the face were blurred.

"Twilight..." The face that sounds like a young woman echoes.

Twilight rubs her eyes and shakes her head. "Stop it! STOP IT!" Twilight slams the book shut.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Pinkie asks.

Twilight reopens her eyes seeing the words in her book are now unblurred. "Y-Yeah I'm fine."

"Did you have crazy imaginations again?"

"Yes."

"Take your time, Twilight. I'll take you to see a psychiatrist tomorrow. Till then try to relax and think, happy thoughts!" Pinkie pulls herself back into the kitchen.

"Okay," Twilight moans with her head back on the sofa.

Twilight hears the same voice again. "Twilight, listen to me!"

In frustration, Twilight looks down and reopens the book to see the unblurred word-face again. "Stop tormenting me with crazy imaginations!" She whispers.

"You need to trust me, Twilight." The face says.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"There's no time. I came here to warn you. You are in grave danger."

"Yeah. These hallucinations are driving me crazy!"

"You're not hallucinating. The Namahage is taunting your mind."

"What the hay's a Namahage?"

"I don't have time. It's hunting you down tonight."

Twilight's heart skips a beat. "You mean... the boogeyman my friend is talking about is real?"

"Twilight, whatever you do, don't go to bed even with your friend."

"But what should I do?"

The face disappears leaving all the words unblurred.

"Wait! Wait!" Twilight’s horn darkens back to its normal state dropping the book to the floor. "PINKIE PIE!" She cries out.

"What is it?"

"Can you come here for a sec?"

"I would Twilight, but I'm busy finishing dinner."

Twilight groans while resting her head backward. "What am I gonna do?" She sighs falling sideways onto the sofa.

Twilight sighs. Her mind suddenly thinks of Pinkie, feeling that, as a friend, she should go and see her. “I guess I'll go and see her in the kitchen. Maybe we could have a chat or something.”

Twilight gets up from the sofa and walks into the kitchen. Once there, Twilight sees Pinkie in front of the counter making a salad. Bemused, Twilight goes over to her.

“Your making salad... for dinner?” Twilight asks.

Pinkie then stops making her salad dish and grins back at Twilight. “Just making sure that you’re good and healthy!” Pinkie says. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Right, I needed to tell her something, Twilight thought. Should I tell her about the Boogeyman? She’ll never believe me, even after those crazy dreams I've been having. Think, Twilight, think!

Noticing her strange behavior, Pinkie waved her hoof in front of Twilight's face, trying to get a reaction. “Um, are you okay?”

Twilight suddenly comes out of thought and tries to answer. “Uh, yeah, I guess. So, Pinkie Pie… where do we sleep in?”

Pinkie smacks her hoof against her forehead, shocked at how Twilight could miss such an obvious cause. “In your bedroom, duh!”

Twilight realizes the obvious outcome, but didn't fancy that option. “Well, let’s not sleep in my bedroom because… well… I...”

“Let me guess," Pinkie says, cutting off Twilight, "you want to tell me the boogeyman is real whilst having those crazy imaginations again?”

Twilight’s eyes move side to side. “Eeehhh… sort of’...” She sighs heavily. “You don’t have to tell me it wasn’t real, but someone, inside the page of a book, told me that we shouldn’t go to bed. It was like a warning or something.”

“We’re not sleeping on your bed, silly!” Pinkie says, pointing at Twilight's chest. “Did the book tell you something while you were reading, or was it your crazy imaginations?”

“I’m not imagining things!" Twilight protests. "I don't read the book anymore! I know it sounds crazy, I know, but the boogeyman was-”

Before Twilight could do anything, Pinkie puts her hoof against Twilight's mouth, silencing her. “Twilight, let's not talk about it, okay? Just, not now.”

Upset by her friend's reply, Twilight tries to change Pinkie's decision. “B-but-”

“No ‘buts’, Twilight! Why don't you just relax, for once? It'll be okay, I promise.”

Twilight groans. “Fine! I’ll never tell you! I guess I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Twilight gets up and makes her way to the living room. But before she leaves the kitchen, Pinkie has an idea and obscures Twilight's way.

“Oh, I know! How about we sleep on the floor in the living room so we can play Truth or Dare after dinner? Sound fun?”

Twilight wasn't really listening by this point, but she didn't want to ignore her friend so she responded. “Oh, okay then.”

“Why don't you rest for a while? I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready, I promise.”

“Okay, Pinkie. Whatever you say.”

Twilight makes her way out of the kitchen and into the living room, hopping onto the sofa and watching, sleepily, Pinkie continuing her work on the salad.

Chapter 6

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.